A Paper Journal
by inashosetai
Summary: When Naruto found Sasuke looking into his carry-along drawing book, Naruto felt his soul leave his mouth and depart towards hell. And for some reason, it felt like Sasuke was following too. SasuNaru.


**Summary:** When Naruto found Sasuke looking into his carry-along drawing book, Naruto felt his soul leave his mouth and depart towards hell. And for some reason, it felt like Sasuke was following too. SasuNaru.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. The story/plot belongs to me. No plagiarizing.

* * *

**A Paper Journal**

While still a growing boy, Naruto lost his parents in a car crash and became half blind half deaf. Though he recovered from the bad experience, he became the joke of the school because of his lack of reading and writing skills. It was only natural that he would dislike the guy when he came face-to-face with Uchiha Sasuke.

Starting from junior high years up to their third year in high school, they bickered and fought like cats and dogs. If he scratched, then the other bit. If he barked, then the other pounced. It was a normal occurrence between the two.

Although Naruto would've said that his arch nemesis, Sasuke, knew him very well, that wasn't completely the case. Naruto would never admit it to anybody, but he was artistically gifted, despite his handicaps. He figured that out about three years into his rivalry with Sasuke. Then again, his gift tended to disappear at the most inopportune times, like when he wanted to show off to Sakura by drawing her portrait.

At that time, Naruto had felt nothing but dread. No inclination to draw Sakura's portrait at all, even though he wanted to. The strange sensation that would course through his veins as he started drawing never came. And he ended up humiliating himself by running away and saying that he couldn't do it. Of course, the next day ended with him on the receiving end of several bashings from said girl. Cough. "How dare you humiliate me, Naruto!" Cough.

Because of that experience, Naruto immediately began experimenting with his gift. It took a month for him to figure out that his gift seemed to have a mind of its own. So Naruto tossed the idea of his gift being a gift out the window and continued resuming his life. That is...until one day, after coming back from school, Naruto thought he would go on a rampage and destroy everything before destroying one Uchiha Sasuke.

He immediately commenced in drawing Sasuke's death.

Sasuke was derailed from his destination as needles pierced his body every which way. Blood slid from the open slit of his mouth as he clenched his teeth. His fingers shook slightly while his eyes were narrowed in concentration. He seemed to be struggling to take in breaths of air.

Naruto should have been delighted. In fact, he should have continued drawing the many ways that Sasuke could have died, disappearing from the face of earth. But of course, the death scene looked as though it was real and Naruto had been there to record it all. Unfortunately, that one and only death scene nearly gave him a heart attack. Scared him so much that he nearly ripped it to pieces before burning it and then stomping all over the leftovers.

He gently placed the picture under his bed (because it was still a good picture anyway), hoping he never had to touch it again. Of course, this only peaked Naruto's interest in his so-called gift. And because he was already having a bad enough day as it was, he thought about how he could embarrass Sasuke in front of the entire school body. And his ideas suddenly sprang to life on paper.

One idea after the other.

This kept Naruto so amused that Naruto couldn't help but tease Sasuke and call him names and such, which just led to more outbreaks and bickering. Naruto never stopped drawing scenes mortifying to the Uchiha, but he made sure to never let Sasuke see his pictures. Ever.

Doing otherwise would mean that Naruto really wanted to die. And no sir, Naruto loved living too much.

So it came as a surprise to him one day in class (during his third year of high school), where Naruto was so bored that he started doodling, when he caught himself staring at Sasuke for a long, hard moment before flipping the page and decidedly placing Sasuke's image onto his notebook paper. The image itself made Naruto furiously blush, sputter indignantly, and shout across the room towards Sasuke, "Bastard! How dare you make fun of me on my own paper!"

Cough. That put them both under detention, which earned him a near-strangle attack from Sasuke because Uchihas never got detentions. A cat and dog fight ensued rather quickly, putting them both under even more hours of detention. And Sasuke decided to ignore him for a long, long time.

That didn't stop Naruto though. Nope. Naruto wore his feelings on his sleeves, man! He acted impulsively with almost no care to what others thought. And so he continued to indulge himself by drawing more portraits of Sasuke in his notebook. The notebook was filled up rather quickly, so Naruto decided to buy himself a carry-along drawing book. He forced himself to not draw anything unless it was totally out-of-the-ordinary. And he also dated his pictures to know when he drew them.

The last day of his 11th grade school year came, and Naruto had one more page in his carry-along drawing book. Throughout his close examinations of Sasuke, his feelings had shifted, bringing him into a deep depression. He drew one last picture of Sasuke on that day, and promised himself that he would detach himself from Sasuke's life by the time that day ended. He had been told constantly from Sasuke that he was a nuisance and needed to leave Sasuke alone. He would still have his drawings of Sasuke anyway. So he was content.

In his senior year, he avoided Sasuke like a chameleon. Or so he thought.

And Sasuke easily fell into depression.

* * *

Since 11th grade school year ended yesterday and it was the first day of summer vacation, Sasuke instinctively knew that Naruto was going to come over and bother him. Then they would probably end up bickering, fighting, and watching clouds again. And then they would talk about anything interesting to them...or at least interesting to Naruto. That routine had been unbroken since the first day it started, which was about four years ago. This would be the fifth year it continued, and Sasuke wouldn't have had it any other way. So it came as a surprise to him that by the time it was eight in the morning, Naruto hadn't showed up yet.

Sasuke squashed the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, knowing that Naruto would show up sooner or later. If Sasuke wasn't an Uchiha, Sasuke would've chuckled uneasily and rubbed the back of his head, but of course, he was, so he didn't. He decided to wait on the living room couch for the idiot's appearance.

Naruto never came.

Sasuke's fingers were sweating and cold by the time the day ended and the next came; he had ignored everyone and everything in his wait for his best friend. His heart fluttered painfully and he continued to stomp on the doubt in his head because Naruto was going to end up coming today and apologizing for not showing up the previous day.

He waited all day, but Naruto never showed up. At this point in time, Sasuke was starting to panic a bit. He decided to go check in on Naruto. Maybe Naruto was sick.

When he arrived at Naruto's apartment, he was informed by the apartment owner that Naruto had already moved out and that Naruto's current location was unknown. Sasuke, being a bit panicky, decided to ask all of Naruto's neighbors whether or not Naruto told them where he had moved to.

None of them knew.

Sasuke was a genius so he decided to search for Naruto on his laptop. He was sure to find Naruto's location because Uchihas could find out whatever they wanted to. He wasn't successful. And then realization hit him like lightning. And Sasuke was struck hard. His eyes burned, his chest felt painful, and his stomach ached. Sasuke was numb.

Naruto was gone.

And so, throughout his summer vacation, Sasuke spent his time trying to locate his best friend with little to no success. His social life digressed. And his mental state didn't fare very well either.

* * *

Sasuke came to school armed with guns and knives and katanas. Cough. Okay. That was exaggerating a bit. But Sasuke felt as though he was armed for war. He was going to find that idiot, smack some sense into him, and then set things right. Yep. Teach him to ditch a best friend. Seriously. Who goes around doing that?

Sasuke had two classes and lunch with Naruto. In second hour, they had a seating chart, like every other year. Sasuke was placed right next to Naruto because they were seated alphabetically by last names. If there had been any other U person separating Uchiha and Uzumaki, Sasuke would've done something about that.

So, during the entirety of that hour, Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto discreetly. He had his whole head turned Naruto's way, and he bored holes into Naruto's head. And he watched the sweat dripping down Naruto's forehead as Naruto tried to ignore him. Yep. His discreet gaze was definitely having its effects on Naruto.

When the bell rang, Sasuke tailed Naruto to whatever destination Naruto had in mind. They traversed for a while before it seemed Naruto finally gave up. Sasuke followed Naruto into the cafeteria, stood right behind him in line for food, and followed him right to the table he chose to sit at. And Sasuke made sure he was sitting right next to Naruto. He watched Naruto shift uncomfortably and smirked.

This was war. Nobody ditched Uchiha Sasuke in the wind.

They went their own ways for third hour, but when fourth hour crawled along, Sasuke was seated in front of Naruto. Oh, the shame. And so Sasuke quickly remedied his situation by leaning back in his chair, making sure Naruto was getting an eyeful of his raven hair. He couldn't help smirking when Naruto was leaning away from him. That just meant that his actions weren't completely useless.

When fourth hour ended, Sasuke was feeling way too accomplished to let Naruto's uncomfortable mood spoil anything for him. Summer had been hell. And now, he was living it out, man! He continued to tail Naruto because if he did, then he'd find out Naruto's current home. He could see how Naruto tried to lose him in the crowd of students all wanting to go home. Nope, nope, and no. He would not lose Naruto's trail.

Naruto ran for it.

Sasuke followed. Hah! Take that, imbecile! He didn't know what was running through Naruto's head, but it didn't really matter since he found out where Naruto was living. Sasuke slammed open Naruto's door, knocking Naruto over.

Naruto was so not locking him out.

He entered quickly and closed the door behind him, locking it. He stared down at Naruto, any and all humor leaving his face. He put on his indifferent mask as he asked, "Why did you do it?"

Naruto looked away from him, not answering.

Sasuke felt his ire rise. He swiftly lifted Naruto by the collar of his neck and shoved him up against the nearest wall, glaring at him with clenched teeth. He growled out lowly, "Why did you do it?"

His gaze flickered towards Naruto's trembling lips. He turned his gaze back towards Naruto's eyes and was surprised by the falling tears.

"I can't," Naruto muttered in a cracking voice, "be your best friend anymore."

He bristled at Naruto's words, clenching his fists and putting most of his weight on Naruto to ensure that Naruto wouldn't escape his grasp. "Naruto." He wanted an explanation and he wanted one now.

"I can't, Sasuke. I just..." Naruto flickered his gaze elsewhere. He stopped answering.

Sasuke was... He was...furious. "Fine," he replied calmly, dropping Naruto and making his way towards what he thought was Naruto's room. He was going to find the source of Naruto's troubles. Someone could've blackmailed Naruto. Or maybe threatened Naruto. Or maybe they threatened him and Naruto didn't want anything to happen to him. There had to be some kind of explanation for Naruto's actions. Sasuke had known Naruto for too long.

"Sasuke...what're you... Sasuke!"

He threw open Naruto's drawers. He tossed Naruto's clothes around. He searched the room. Removed Naruto's sheets. Threw paper and pencil behind him. All the while he could hear Naruto screeching at him. And then he found it.

An auspicious looking carry-along drawing book.

First off, Naruto was not an artist. Secondly, whatever threat letter Naruto had probably would've been put in there.

"Sasuke, no!"

Ah hah! He was right! He opened up the first page and...

* * *

Naruto felt his soul leave his mouth and depart towards hell. And for some reason, it felt like Sasuke was following too. With every ticking second, he fell a bit deeper into the pit of oblivion.

Sasuke was looking into his carry-along drawing book. Sasuke's mouth was gaping open like a flopping fish. Sasuke was... Sasuke was...

Naruto thought he would die. So he did what he could.

He fainted.

When he woke up, he felt groggy and disoriented. He couldn't really remember what happened. He looked around his room, finding it rather clean. Ah! That meant he had a disturbing dream where Sasuke discovered his carry-along drawing book! He let out a heavy, relieved sigh, thanking all the noble heavens.

He almost had a heart attack when his bedroom door opened and Sasuke walked right in, wearing a smug smirk.

"What the-!" he sputtered, sitting up quickly and pointing at the smirking teen. "What are you-? How did you-?" His eyes bugged when he saw Sasuke waving his carry-along drawing book. He felt his soul seeping from his gaping mouth.

It wasn't a dream.

"I was aware that you stared at me, Naruto," Sasuke spoke in his smug way, "but I didn't know you also made it a habit of yours to draw me and write about me. Oh. And nice drawings, though a bit exaggerated, if I do say so myself."

No... Sasuke didn't... He didn't have to look at Sasuke's face to know.

Sasuke did.

Oh, God of nature. His personal thoughts. His journal. The stuff he'd written on Sasuke. Oh God. Somebody save him from this hell.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

Naruto wasn't going to answer. No way, no how. He was going to remain with his mouth agape and shoulders slumped because he wished the floor would just eat him up already. Why him? Why?

"You know," Sasuke looked even more smug, "you would've saved me and yourself a lot of trouble if you'd just gone and told me that you actually liked me that way instead of doing all of this other unnecessary stuff."

Sasuke walked up to him. "You're such a sap, Naruto." Sasuke placed his carry-along drawing book on the nightstand.

Naruto felt pain lance through his heart. Sasuke was...making fun of his feelings? Geez... He looked away from Sasuke, clenching his fists.

Sasuke patted his head softly before asking offhandedly, "So, when is the first date?"

Naruto could practically hear the screeching tires of a car. He gawked up at Sasuke.

Okay. Somebody better save him from all this right now.

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**A/N:** Lol. In a way, this story seems like my first humor story. Well, please review! I'd like to know what your thoughts are on my attempts at humor. Hopefully there were no mistakes up there.


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